You perceptively raise several issues that lie
just under the surface of many of the comments
and statistics explicitly contained in the EDA
article.

Alas, these concerns not only affect EDA but also
MCAD/CAM/PLM and many other software development
industries key to the U.S. economy's future.

At this juncture, I am unaware of easily-obtained
data that might expose, for example, how many of
the EDA seats are going offshore to replace EE
design work previously done domestically. However,
for the next quarterly EDAcafe Commentary, I will
definitely research ! ! the issue, as well as the other
points raised in your letter. I am not optimistic
that that research will yield a lot of fruit, but
it's well worth a try.

It's amazing to note that some EDA companies are
actually bragging in news releases about shifting
existing domestic positions offshore, as if it
were a praiseworthy cost-reduction move.

As far as "management" being displaced to offshore,
along with software developers, I definitely believe
it's just "one small leap" away. Indeed, Dassault
Systemes (France) already possesses the leading
market share percentage in the worldwide MCAD niche.

As long as our top management focuses (or is forced to
focus) on short-term quarterly earnings in America,
they may cost-reduce themselves and their companies
right out of domestic existence. There is no structural
reason to keep them here in the US at the moment.